


A Heart Pounding Proposal

by Toni_Violet



Series: Time With you [2]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: 9x06, Dual POV, Fluff, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Prison, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 15:58:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16329092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toni_Violet/pseuds/Toni_Violet
Summary: This is a 1,700 word short that takes place 5 months after the S9/E6 Endgame Shameless episode between Ian Gallagher and Mickey Milkovich in prison. It also should be read after "My Time," which is my fic that follows the boys from the end of their story on the show in S9/E6.This was the first fic I've ever written. I used to be a professional editor and have toyed with the idea of writing something since I was a kid. I just needed some major inspiration like the kind Mickey and Ian have provided.Dual POV. Third person**UPDATE**This will now be a chapter out of a bigger multi-chapter fic I am writing for Ian and Mickey and their life in prison and after.





	A Heart Pounding Proposal

**Author's Note:**

> My writing style is kind of different. I write in a lot of fragments for effect and for tone. Dialogue is hugely important to me so the words are meant to sound like it's the characters talking, not me. So the fragments and incomplete sentences are totally intentional. 
> 
> I'm thinking about writing more scenes/chapters to Ian and Mickey's journey together if there is interest out there. I already have three other scenes playing on repeat in my head. 
> 
> Oh, and while I did do some research on prison marriage and the likelihood of it being permitted, please know that I claim creative liberties on any inaccuracies from how this is in the actual DOC for the state of Illinois. 
> 
> I would love to hear what you think! Thank you! :)

_**5 months after Ian went in** _

Mickey and Ian are lying in their tiny prison bed. They’d just enjoyed another vigorous round of fucking and were drifting off to sleep. Ian has his hand over Mickey’s heart, under his shirt. It’s the spot where his hand always ends up when they fall asleep now—over the tattoo of his own name on Mickey’s chest—and Ian loves having it there. He loves feeling the rhythmic and steady beat of Mickey’s heart. Feeing him calm and at peace with him. 

But tonight, Ian wants to make Mickey’s heart pound a little. 

“Mick?” 

“Hmm?” 

“You awake?” Ian asks clumsily, suddenly grasping to buy himself a bit more time. 

“Uh, yeah?” he drawls, sarcasm lacing his tone. 

Silence follows. Mickey shifts and turns to face him. 

“What’s up?” Mickey asks seriously once they’re lying face to face. 

Ian cups Mickey’s chin with one hand, letting his gaze roam all over his beautiful face. He can’t help the slow smile he feels creep across his own face. “Will you marry me?” he finally asks, surprised at how easy the words end up coming out. 

Mickey freezes, his entire body growing tense? “What?” 

Ian leans in, eyes narrowed. “You heard me.” 

Mickey yanks Ian’s hand away. “You can’t ask me that right now.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because we’re in here.” 

“So?” 

“So? So, would you be asking me if we weren’t?” 

“Yes,” Ian states plainly. 

Mickey laughs dryly. “You don’t know that.” He rolls to lie on his back, his heart pounding so hard, he’s convinced Ian can hear it trying to burst out of his chest. 

Ian props his head up on one hand, studying his partner. “You don’t want to be married to me?” 

Mickey gives him an _Are you fucking kidding me?_ look. “You know it’s not that.” 

“What is it then?” 

“It’s that you don’t know if you’re still gonna want that once you’re back on the outside.” 

“That’s kind of irrelevant because I don’t want to wait till then. I want to marry you now.” 

Mickey’s eyes shoot to his. He doesn’t attempt words because he’s pretty sure he’ll choke if he attempts to speak. He can just barely make out Ian’s expression through the tiny sliver of light that comes into the cell through their door. It’s one of confidence—he’s always been equal parts enamored and terrified by Ian’s confidence. 

“And before you say we can’t, we can,” Ian continues. “I asked my lawyer. Inmates have the right to marry. Each other…if they want to. We would just have to get approval from the warden and the chaplain.” 

Mickey shakes his head once and looks up to the bunk above them. He can feel his eyes burning with tears but he fights like hell to hold them back.

Forcing to keep the tremble out of his voice, he says, “It’s not fair of you to ask me that right now. I have more time than you to serve, remember?” 

“I don’t care about that.” 

“Well, you should,” Mickey throws right back at him, hearing the bite in his tone but not really caring to reel it back, “You waiting on me didn’t go so well the last time.” 

At that, Ian shuts his mouth. _Good._ No quick reply that time. Mickey dares a glance at him and finds Ian staring down at him seriously. Somberly. 

Slowly, Ian leans over him, placing a gentle hand on his face, before dropping a kiss to his forehead. 

“I deserved that,” he whispers with conviction.

And that’s it. Mickey loses the battle with his eyes when he feels a warm tear make its escape. He quickly shoves it away, forcing Ian to move out of his personal space. But he’s right back in it not two seconds later, denying Mickey any escape. 

“You have every right not to trust me. But I mean it when I say that I want to marry you. Been thinking about it for months now. I want spend the rest of my life with you. And you’re worth waiting for. Please let me show you.” Ian bends to kiss him, his lips barely grazing Mickey's. “Give me a chance to earn your trust back.” 

Mickey is completely speechless. All he can do is stare back at Ian, as if waiting for the punch line. He’s never been enough for anyone. It’s something he swore he would never dare to hope for again. Back when he was planning his escape from prison, he’d hoped that he would be enough for Ian. That what they had would be enough to take a chance on. But it hadn’t been. And Ian’s rejection had simply confirmed every ugly word his father had ever spit at him. Marriage—the real kind—was one of those completely unattainable things that wasn’t meant for people like him. 

The rush of emotions makes the walls feel like they’re closing in. Mickey exhales, releasing the breath he’s been holding since Ian asked him _that_ question. “Please don’t hurt me again,” he blurts without thought. The words just slip out of their own volition. He can’t help it. Ian has him feeling so raw right now that he couldn’t be strong if he tried. Ian has always had a way of disarming him. 

Mickey’s expression is a pleading one and it cuts Ian to his core. 

_Fuck,_ he loved Mickey. 

And _fuck_ he wanted to light himself on fire for hurting him as deeply as he had. 

He’d been so blind to it before. All those years ago when he’d first been diagnosed. Too caught up in his own shit to really see. But since they’d been in here—since they’d been together again—Ian could see that hurt so clearly when it made appearances during conversations like these. Mickey didn’t hold it over his head though. He’d never once thrown their past in Ian’s face—except for tonight. Which is why Ian knows he’d pushed him out of his comfort zone. Maybe too far. All the other times, Mickey had just shrugged it off. Told him that he’d forgiven him a long time ago. Which only made Ian feel worse. But love Mickey more. 

Still crowding over him, Ian leans in to kiss him. Taking his time. In no rush to advance things any further than just this. Mickey’s lips are warm and Ian’s eyes flutter shut at the contact. He can never think straight when Mickey’s mouth is on his. He shifts to move even closer into Mickey’s space, needing to feel his warmth. Needing to offer him his own. He wraps his arm around his lover’s back possessively. A chill runs down his entire body when Mickey’s tongue enters his mouth. For as tough talking and hard as Mickey is to the rest of the world, Ian has always known an entirely different side of him that’s just theirs. When they’re like this, he’s tentative. He’s pliant. He cedes control and lets Ian do as he wants to with his body. It’s heady and addictive and one of the many things Ian loves about him. Ian knows he has a lot of trust to earn back, but when it comes to Mickey’s body, he clearly still trusts Ian unequivocally. 

Ian pulls away first, but he remains close, touching his forehead to Mickey’s. 

“I promise I will never intentionally hurt you ever again,” he says to Mickey. “And, if you’ll let me, I want to spend the rest of my life making up for all the pain I caused you.” 

Mickey looks into those emerald green eyes that hold his heart and—once again—he finds himself daring to hope. Maybe it makes him an idiot, but things have been so fucking amazing for the past five months. Sure, they’re locked up and, yeah, there’s annoying shit they have to deal with on the regular, like the looks and smart ass remarks Ian constantly gets from other inmates that make Mickey want to commit murder. But when it’s just them—when they’re alone—it’s the best it’s ever been. 

They’d spent the first few weeks just talking—well, talking _and_ fucking. There’d been words of apology, of forgiveness, and of commitment. And there’d been words that had just been left unsaid. That didn’t need to be said. Because when he looked into Ian’s eyes, he saw everything he needed to know. 

He knows that, after all this time, he finally has _his_ Ian back. That there’s nothing but love and honesty between them. There were times when Mickey would be in the middle of saying something, and Ian would attack him—out of the blue—just to kiss him. Or to pull him close and hug him. Or to tackle him to the bed. And that always ends up leading to more kissing, which leads to more fucking, and… he’s been happier than he ever thought he had a fucking right to be. And he never wants to lose this bubble they’ve created. The thought of adding anything to it terrifies Mickey. 

But, leave it to Ian to turn their carefully constructed world on its axis. Again. 

With that final thought in mind, Mickey swipes at his eyes once more before wrestling Ian so that he’s the one on top, gaining the upper hand. Hands clutching his over Ian’s head, he looks down at him and says, “Doesn’t mean I’m gonna wear a fucking dress.” 

A cocky smirk curls Ian's lips before he replies with, “Nobody fucking asked you to, baby.” 

And, call him a fucking girl, but Mickey’s heart just about bursts in his chest at Ian’s words. Which makes him laugh out of pure fucking happiness. Which makes Ian grab Mickey and kiss him some more, fire, desire, and relief filling him. His own heart is pounding now too, the way Mickey has always made his heart pound. Soon Ian's excitement for the future ahead of them has him overcome with want, and all he can do is devour this wonderful man who has always given so much of himself just for Ian. 

~

Later on, after enjoying each other's bodies yet again, legs tangled, lying in each other’s arms, Ian’s hand resting back on his spot over Mickey’s heart, Mickey whispers, “Ask me again.” 

Ian leans in and drops a kiss behind his ear before whispering, “Will you marry me?” 

Mickey turns his head back to look at him, waiting until their eyes focus on one another in the darkness, and when they do, he states simply, “Of course I will.”


End file.
